The Biden Administration made 500 million COVID-19 test kits available to the public, but almost half are still available. One possibility is because coronavirus cases have gone down; therefore, people don’t have a sense of urgency to get tested. We have witnessed wild demand swings during the pandemic for items such as hand sanitizer, Lysol, etc. When the White House began the test giveaway in January, there were over 45 million orders. Now, there are less than 100,000 orders per day coming in.
COVID-19 Test Kits Program
Despite the decline in COVID-19 test kits, the White House is still optimistic about the program. This program will help a future testing infrastructure that can accommodate demand surges. “We intend to sustain this market,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, testing adviser to the COVID-19 response team. “We know the market is volatile and will come up and down with surged invariants.” In addition, testing will become more critical now that mask requirements are easing up. “If infection control is still our priority, testing is central,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore health commissioner and commentator on the pandemic. “Four tests per household for one family will only last you one time. There should be enough tests for families to test twice a week.”
The Biden Administration has made free at-home tests available through libraries, clinics, and other venues. The White House recently asked the industry for ideas on sustaining and expanding domestic testing for the rest of this year. Sadly, the need for testing came from the Omicron variant surge last holiday. Not to mention tests were tough to come by and expensive. “There is no question some people found out they were positive from taking one of these tests and were able to keep other people from getting infected,” said Tim Manning, supply coordinator for the COVID-19 response team.
A Fair Program
The White House was highly strategic with the COVID-19 testing kit programs. They tapped the shoulders of the Pentagon and parts of the Health and Human Services Dept. Additionally, logistics experts searched the world for available tests, and the U.S. postal service was designated to take the orders and deliver them. Manning confirmed that it took less than a month to get the project ready. “We said this is not online retail,” he said. “This is emergency response, so we have to go as fast as possible.”
The White House wanted to make sure it wasn’t just tech-savvy individuals who got free tests. They intentionally targeted low-income areas and worked with service organizations to help spread the word. “We prioritized the processing of orders to the highest social vulnerability zip codes in the country,” testing adviser Inglesby said.
One group was the National Association of Community Health Workers, which was a group that helped people navigate the health care system. According to their executive director, the organization could link more than 630,000 people to COVIDtests.gov. Therefore, 20-25% of the overall tests went to people in a distressed area.
As of now, the program’s future is unknown. However, there is a possibility that they will allow people to place multiple orders. However, one strategy is to refamiliarize people with testing possibly.
